Ink agitator



Aug. 24, 1948. D. ORTLEB INK AGITATOR Filed May 9, 1945 INVENTOR. 006.44: 0,972 5 Patented Aug. 24, 1948 UNITED TATES ENiT OFFICE i 2,447,868 I I mnaorre'ron I DougI'aS-Qrtleb, st. Louis, Mo. Appl'ica tion May. 9', 1945, Serial No. 5325836 Ink agitators. heretofore. used. on' printing presses have been co-operablewith the mechanism of the press with few exceptions, and as far as I am aware I am the first to devise an ink agitator comprising a worm drive attached to a motor, permitting continuous operation of the agitating members instead of reciprocal, intermittent movement. The advantages to be derived from a motor driven agitator are so obvious as to require little comment, other than to point out the saving in time, labor, and consequent cost of operation, in addition to which the motor driven agitator is more practical and more easily attached to the press.

In the drawings-- Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the agitator, partly broken away, in relation to a printing press and motor, illustrating particularly the means for propelling the agitator back and forth.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation showing the agitating means and its relation to the motor.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, sectional view taken on line 3-3, Fig. 1, illustrating particularly one of the blades as it appears when in use in the ink fountain.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 4-4, Fig. 1, illustrating a detail of the propellin mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the detail illustrated in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the propelling mechanism as it appears when equipped with a single thread, before the second thread for reverse movement is provided.

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6, showing the mechanism completely equipped with a double thread for backward and forward movement.

In the drawing 'I have illustrated a portion of a printing press A comprising an inking roller B mounted for rotation on a shaft C, an ink fountain D provided with an inclined bottom wall E which is positioned in close proximity to the inkapplication I..wilL describe it as 2 ing roller B, and a motor M. The parts thus far mentioned are not apart Of the present inventionand will therefore not be further describedi I willnow describe the agitatin mechanism itself; which comprises a rotatable shaft Lone end of' whicli'i's conn'ectedat 2 tea portion of the motor M for rotation by said" motor: At-its-opposite end and for a considerable portion' of its lengththe shaft l is.-of enlarged'diamet'er to form an enlarged portion l of said-shaft I "The enlarged portion i is provided with a doublescrew thread, consisting: of a thread: 2- to permit: movemenuinione direction and a; thread" 3 to permit movement in the opposite direction of a part which-willfbe describedllat'erf(Figs; B and Rigidly mounted square tubing 4 surrounds the shaft portion I, and square tubing 5 of larger diameter surrounding the shaft portion l is mounted for longitudinal sliding movement on the tubing 4. A 2-pronged fork 6 is positioned within the square tubing 5 at a point where its prongs will engage the screwthreads 2 and 3 of the shaft portion I, said fork being swiveled within said tubing by a supporting member 1, the lower end of which passes through an aperture in the floor of said tubing and through a registering aperture in a plate 8 underneath said floor, where the supporting member 1 is held in position by means of a bolt 9, or in any other suitable manner, the plate 8 being bolted to said floor as shown at 10 (Figs. 4 and 5.)

A plurality of upwardly extending, irregularly shaped members H are spaced at intervals and attached to the exterior of the square tubing 5,

' and. an agitating blade I2 is adjustably attached at one of its ends to the upper extremity of each member H by a wing nut l3, each blade terminating at its free end in a pointed portion. If desired, each blade l2 may be provided with a slot where it is attached to the member I l by the Wing nut l 3 to facilitate adjustment, but this is not essential and is not shown in the drawing. Each blade is so positioned that one of its edges will just escape touching the inclined floor E of the ink fountain D, and is of such length that it extends to a point just short of the inking roller B and is submerged for ink I3 within the inking fountain D. The parts described in this paragraph are clearly illustrated in Fig. 3.

In operation the procedure is as follows:

Suppose that there is ink l4 in the ink fountain D. The motor M is started, which rotates the shaft I-I and the prongs of the fork 6 secured within the tubing 5 engage either the a portion of its length in the screwthread 2 or the screwthread 3, which has the effect of moving said tubing either backward or forward as the shaft rotates. As the square tubing 5 moves longitudinally of said shaft, the members H move also and their associated blades I2 move longitudinally therewith through the ink in the ink fountain D, and when the prongs of the fork 6 have reached the end of the screwthread which they engaged on the shaft portions I said fork swivels slightly and engages the other screwthre-ad, thus reversing the direction of longitudinal movement of the square tubing 5 and the associated members H and the blades l2. Since there is a plurality of the blades [2, each being attached to one of the members H which are secured at intervals to the slidable tubing 5, it is obvious that each blade l2 will travel during operation only a predetermined portion of the length of the ink fountain D, so that every portion of the ink in said fountain is constantly being agitated by virtue of there being a plurality of such blades. This movement continues until the prongs reach the end of the second screwthread, when the direction of movement is again reversed in the same manner, and this backward and forward movement automatically continues until the motor is shut off.

Since the members H and the blades l2 continue to move with the longitudinal movement of the square tubing 5, it will be clearly seen that the blades continue to move through the ink I4 and thus keep it constantly agitated as long as current is supplied by the motor M. The square formation of the tubing 5 serves to prevent the fork 6 from turning with the shaft and thus continues the reciprocatory movement of the shaft. Being closed at all points, the tubing 5 also serves to keep ink from accidentally entering the reciprocatory mechanism therein.

I claim:

An agitator for an ink fountain comprising a shaft and means connected at one end thereof for driving the same, the opposite end of said shaft and for a considerable portion of its length being of enlarged diametento form a shaft having a reduced portion and an enlarged portion, screw threads formed on the enlarged portions of said shaft, a substantially square shaped tubing for enclosing said reduced portion, a substantially square shaped tubing of larger diameter for enclosing said enlarged portion and mounted for longitudinal movement on said first tubing, a plurality of members mounted in space relation on said larger tubing, agitator blades carried by each of said members, and means within said movable tubing for engaging the threaded portion of said shaft to reverse the movement of said movable tubing and its supported blades.

- DOUGLAS ORTLEB.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

